


Worlds Collide

by Wardove



Series: Spider Stories [7]
Category: Spider-Man (Video Game 2018), Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)
Genre: Couch Cuddles, Everyone Needs A Hug, Gen, Miles Morales Needs a Hug, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Peter's very confused in the beginning, Peter's very protective of Miles, accidental inter-dimensional travel, inter-dimensional spider-fam
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-28
Updated: 2019-08-25
Packaged: 2020-07-24 01:24:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 10,393
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20017975
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wardove/pseuds/Wardove
Summary: After everything that happened with the Demons and the Sinister Six, Peter just wants a break.  No more near-death experiences, no more betrayal, no more loosing people.  Just him and MJ and Miles, and a perfectly normal amount of crime-fighting and webslinging with his new student.So of course a crazy portal has to open up and kidnap the both of them off the street.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> "Worlds Collide" is 1) literally what is happening here lol, 2) a track off the PS4 game's soundtrack, 2a) it's the track I was listening to on repeat (along with "Spider-man") while writing and editing this, and 2b) it's the track that plays after the award ceremony, which is the scene that made me scream and need to write this entire thing. 
> 
> Anyway- the story "I See The Light" is a semi-prequel to this- it was originally going to be the first chapter, but I didn't like how it flowed, so it's not necessary to read that to enjoy this. As for the rest of the Spider Stories series, if you want to skip over them, all you really need to know is that Jefferson knows about Miles and the Multi-verse, and has unoffically adopted all of the semi-radioactive children (both underage and grown children lol). 
> 
> I think that's all for now- first chapter's a bit short because it's setting things up- hope you enjoy though!

Months pass with no overly-crazy villains after Spider-Man's head, and no more grand plots against the mayor (that have been revealed, at least- Peter doesn't trust that to last though). The repetition of it is soothing after the turmoil and upset of repeatedly nearly dying and the release of the Devil's Breath. So when Peter and Miles are in their street clothes walking back to MJ's for dinner after a shift of volunteering at FEAST, Peter can only find exhausted disappointment in his heart when a strange, bubbling black hole ripples into existence in the brickwork to his right. 

He pushes Miles away from the threat and goes to leap into the street regardless of potential oncoming traffic, but unfortunately the black-and-rainbow blob-thing ignores general things like the _fabric of spacetime_ and _laws of physics_ and immediately swallows them both up, leaving Miles to reach out and grab Peter's arm with wide eyes. Both their spidey-senses scream out in confusion, unable to locate danger but repeating _something is wrong something is wrong_ no duh, thank you spidey-sense for your valuable contributions. 

There's a sense of free-fall, but accompanying wind to mark direction, just... falling through the blackness, and then suddenly that's peeling away and there's _color_ and it's a tangled riot of shades and hues and it's both stationary and hurtling past them- or are they hurtling past it? Miles's grip is tight enough on his wrist for it to actually hurt, but Peter only reaches over and grabs Miles's arm with his own free hand because he gets the feeling that if they lose sight of each other in this space, they'd never find each other again. 

It feels like both an eternity and no time at all before blackness blooms before them, beside them, and around them once more, and suddenly the fractured webbed kaleidoscope world is gone and there's a billb-

Even spider-enhanced reflexes aren't enough at that point, and Peter's shoulder aches from the impact (and going by the noise Miles made, he didn't fare much better), but they're not seriously hurt, and they've each still got a death-grip on the other even as they're both falling to the rooftop below the massive sign with only slightly-excessive groans (because part of being Spider-Man is obviously theatrics and even without an audience it’s a thing of habit). 

The first thing Peter does on sitting upright is to tug Miles up and twist his arm free of the kid's grip so that he can run a quick pat-down to check for injuries (Miles is, unfortunately, taking after Peter in the lets-hide-serious-injuries-from-everyone-else department). Miles tolerates it for exactly 12 seconds before knocking Peter's hands away and checking over his fellow Spider-Man (though his check is not as fluid or deft, lacking Peter's experience with seeking out injuries).

Once the mutual checking-up is satisfied, they both roll to their feet, looking around the rooftop warily. There's no villains, no surprise attack at the end of the crazy teleport, though there is _something_ that's messing with their eyes a bit- everything looks just a bit too smooth, a bit too vibrant. 

"I suppose... we should get off the roof, huh?" Miles proposes warily, once he'd had his fill of pacing in agitation while Peter peered suspiciously over every edge and glowered at every adjacent rooftop. Peter gives the area one final wary visual sweep before sighing in exhausted annoyance and nodding. 

"We need to get back to where we were." He explains to Miles as he leads the kid to the edge overlooking a secluded alleyway they can drop down in and smoothly walking down the wall. "If they don't teleport you _into_ a trap, it means they're sending you _away_ from whatever their target is." 

"But we weren't wearing our suits!" Miles protests, doing a bit of a scramble to get himself standing horizontally as well before walking down behind his mentor. Peter's thankful for those scant seconds where Miles can't see his face- can't see the way his jaw clenches and his teeth grind, eyes narrow and throat bobs. 

"I know." 

If they'd grabbed Peter, okay, fine-not-fine, but okay. Mary Jane had already proven herself to be vicious when cornered, and he'd made sure she was better armed for _next time_ there was trouble, instead of just hoping there wouldn't _be_ a next time anymore. But whoever had warped them across the city, they'd grabbed Miles too- and that was something Peter hadn't planned for- hadn't had the _time_ to make the plans for- Miles had his mother Rio, and his best friend Ganke, and possibly even other relatives that Peter hadn't gotten a chance to research because _the kid was supposed to be safe_. 

So. Get back to Queens, take out whatever nefarious plot was brewing, figure out what the kinda-kidnappers know about their identities and how they made a crazy portal, and then Save The Day like a Big Damn Hero. He'd already gotten Miles's dad killed with his negligence- he wasn't gonna let the kid down again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Poor Peter- he's 1000% still blaming himself for not being able to save Officer Davis, which is making him extra protective of Miles. Please give this man a break (I say, as I continue to write this and stress him out further). More stuff will be happening next chapter- like I said, chapter 1 was just go get them here.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Active growing boys need lots of food to stay healthy." 
> 
> Peter can't help but huff out a soft laugh. 
> 
> "I'm 28 years old ma'am, I think I'm done growing." 
> 
> Something in the old woman's eyes goes sad at that, and she reaches up and pats him on the cheek.
> 
> "That you are dear, that you are."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So first thing's first. Upped the chapter count to 6 because apparently I can't count lol. 
> 
> Second, I was planning on uploading this on Saturday but I'm a little loopy from donating blood and then working a full shift and then an hour drive home so my self restraint is about nil rn lol (yay for y'all!) 
> 
> Third is that because I'm posting this early I haven't done the, like, 5th comb through for grammar slips, so if you catch the tenses changing in weird places, that's why sorry.

The city continues to be just this side of too bright and too vibrant, and Peter feels like the spidey-sense should be freaking out but it _isn’t_ , and if anything that's just making him more worried, because he shouldn't be calm in this situation and if someone's figured out how to _trick the sense_... But no-one jumps out at them, no-one's overtly watching (Peter's not sure if it's paranoia or if those two guys really did just both accidentally trip while _coincidentally_ staring right at them). Miles at least seems relatively calm, hands in his pockets as he strides along at Peter's side, his head pointed forward but his eyes darting about, clearly catching on the same bright colors and lines that are throwing Peter off. 

"Shouldn't we be taking the faster route?" The teen flicks his eyes up towards the roofs and whispers without turning- his voice inaudible to anyone without super-hearing. 

"There's still the slightest chance that they don't know who they warped." Pete breathes out the words on a sigh as he runs his fingers through his hair. "And even if they did know about me, there's a bigger chance that they don't know about _you_ and you were grabbed by accident. Best to wait and see for now." Miles barely nods though he's scowling faintly, and they keep walking. 

~*~

Of course, Parker Luck and Murphy are good friends, and their stealthy stroll comes to an end with a frantic elderly woman, a little red-head in pigtails bending down to pick up a pretty feather from the side of the road, and a car that's almost on the curb as the driver looks down to fiddle with his radio. The matron shouts and stumbles after the child and Miles catches her before she can fall to the ground while Peter dives out, catching the kid with his shoulder and wrapping himself around her as he winces at the blaring of horns on sensitive ears- tuck the head, hit the ground _roll_ feet pavement _car_ spring again- and he's _up-out-over_ landing on his back on the opposite sidewalk with a little kid, stiff but safe in his arms. 

He lays still for a moment, just a few heartbeats, until the girl starts squirming- only just realizing what almost happened. He sits up just as she starts to gasp out the little hiccup-sobs, shifting her off his chest and gently tousling her head as he sets her onto the sidewalk. 

There's shouting and swearing and more car horns as traffic resumes and witnesses tear into the driver who's now out of his car and apologizing profusely. The old lady is ignoring him however- hobbling across the street as quickly as she can with Miles supporting her by the elbow. 

"Lizzy! Oh honey you mustn't do that- you know better! Always hold grammy's hand when we're walking!" The little girl- Lizzy- ducks her head and scuffs her shoes, remaining silent but for her hiccups and sniffles as said grammy reaches them and hugs at her shoulders. Miles releases the woman's elbow and steps closer to where Peter's still semi-sprawled on the ground, offering his mentor his hand with a worried half-smile. 

"You alright Peter?" 

"Yeah." Peter huffs and swings his arm up, catching Miles's hand and pulling himself up. His back's a bit bruised from the rough roll but it'll heal in just a few hours. Lizzy's grandmother is squinting at him over her glasses. 

"Peter... not Peter Parker?" Peter's surprised, but he nods slowly. He doesn't recognize this old lady, he's not sure how she recognizes him, but at his nod her expression melts into something downright _fond_. She doesn't take her eyes off him as she reaches down and takes her grand-daughter's hand, securing the child close to her hip once more. 

"Let me get you boys some food as a thank you." She says abruptly, and Pete feels more than sees Miles twitch in surprise. 

"That's really not- we're in a bit of a rush-" He tries, but she's undeterred, waving her free hand dismissively in his face to cut him off. 

"Is it a life or death kind of rush?" 

"I... no?" Odd way to phrase that question. And honestly wasn't that why they were walking anyway? He hadn't heard any shouts of villain attacks in Queens on the news yet, no-one had come after himself and Miles after they were dropped here, and his spidey-sense was calm once more after the near-accident. And they were already late for dinner, and he _really was_ hungry...

"Good- active growing boys need lots of food to stay healthy." 

Peter can't help but huff out a soft laugh at that. 

"I'm 28 years old ma'am, I think I'm done growing." 

Something in her eyes goes sad for some reason, and Peter's heart leaps into his throat as she reaches up and gently pats the side of his jaw- she doesn't look much like Aunt May with her hunched shoulders and long white braid, but something in her expression and her gestures is just _too familiar_ right then. 

"That you are dear, that you are." 

~*~

After she spends a few minutes lecturing the still-apologizing driver for taking his eyes off the road and then sending him on his way, the grandmother- "Call me Nancy kiddo"- leads their little group to a small pizza and sub shop. It's completely empty inside except for the young woman behind the register and the man in an apron leaning heavily in the doorway to the kitchen. The man stops in the middle of his sentence as he catches sight of their group coming in however- squinting at them strangely. 

The woman turns to greet them, but she too freezes on seeing them, and Peter's spidey-sense is humming softly in agitation as their gazes hone in on him. Nancy nudges him out of the doorway where he'd stopped, calling out as she did so. 

"Rico, young Peter here just saved my little Lizzy from a terrible accident- the biggest plates you can put together for them please." 

"Oh no- we really can't-" Peter tries, startled out of his wariness because yeah he's hungry (he's always hungry) but he doesn't want to impose too much on this random old lady, but this time he's interrupted by Rico. 

"If you think I'm charging _anything_ for feeding Mr. Parker in my shop, then your mind's goin' the way of your spine Nan'." His voice is gruff and his arms are crossed but his eyes are crinkled in amusement. The woman is nodding in agreement as well, and Peter’s distracted by his stomach, which chooses that moment to growl loudly at the thought of food, followed a second later by Miles's own stomach. Both little Lizzy and the woman on the register (whose nametag reads Karen) giggle as Miles ducks his head and Peter bites the inside of his cheek. Rico just nods and hums with a knowing smirk before turning back and vanishing into the kitchen. 

Having successfully gotten her way, Nancy takes Peter's elbow and steers him towards a small table and Peter allows himself to be guided with little resistance- leaving Lizzy to latch onto Miles's hand and haul him along as she bounces. 

"You really didn't need to do this." Peter tries to protest again even as he sits in the chair that Nancy points to. She's old but strong-willed and her bull-headed form of kindness is reminding him more and more of May and it's making the breath catch in his throat. 

"You deserve some appreciation once in a while young man." She says in a scolding tone, waggling her finger in his direction. Then she turns her attention onto Miles. "And how about you? I'm sorry, I just assumed you two were together and brought you along." 

Miles lets out a huff of a laugh at that. 

"Yeah kinda. Pete and I volunteer at FEAST, and he's been teaching me self-defense when he's got the time. My name's Miles." 

Nancy hums and starts asking about school (Miles groans and immediately launches into a complaint about the weight of his backpack full of homework). Lizzy is drawing on the back of the place-mat with several crayons that were in a little bucket on the table. Peter's keeping one ear on the conversation next to him, and the other on the sounds (and smells) from the kitchen- his senses have calmed again, but he's still on edge from how _aware_ he'd been earlier- how Nancy had called him Peter but Rico had called him Parker, how both Karen and Rico had stared, like they knew him, like the whispering people on the streets had been staring. But out in the kitchen Rico only seems to be humming to himself as he cooks something that smells of meat and onions. 

He’s distracted by a sharp audible inhale from Karen, still leaning against the counter by the register. He shoots a quick glance in her direction, and finds her hand over her mouth and her eyes wide and frightened, focused on the muted TV that hung ignored in a corner near the ceiling. And on the screen was-

Karen lets out a distressed keen when the spandex-clad figure is thrown into a car roof by a flying robot getting tangled in his webbing, and around Peter everyone else's attention is also drawn to the screen. Seeing that, Karen pulls out the remote from under the counter and turns up the volume, which draws Rico from the kitchen as well. The newscaster's voice is saying something along the lines of 'that looked like it hurt' but the figure on-screen has already taken to the air once more and brought down another robot like he hadn't just crushed metal with his spine.

"Someone should call the damn protective services on that kid’s parents." Rico growls as he crosses his arms and leans on the wall. "Tyke's gonna get himself dead out there." 

"He's clearly gotten training from the others, and those cops are never far behind him." Karen shoots back defensively, not taking her eyes off the screen. "But... I know what you mean. He's so _small_." She sighs and shakes her head, pushing off the counter and wandering over to their table to throw herself into a chair while Rico mutes the TV again once the last robot has fallen onscreen and the view is returned to the newscaster's desk. He tosses the remote back under the counter with a clatter before retreating once more to the kitchen (swearing under his breath and scraping at the burnt food on the grill according to Peter's ears). 

"Anyway," Karen says with a huff, voice higher as she focuses her gaze on Peter, "I saw this theory video a few weeks ago about the whole web-slinging thing- they were saying there's no way a normal person would be able to aim and calculate angles and trajectories and everything needed to swing like that, _especially_ when they're in the middle of a fight. One of the theorists was saying Spidey's got some kind of supercomputer installed in his suit that does it, but the other was saying even a computer would have too much lag and it's gotta be another part of the spider-powers. Third theory was that he just happened to be some kind of super-genius that can think about that stuff on the fly, but like what are the chances of that, right?" 

Part of Peter's mind was still stuck on _if he and Miles are in this cafe, who the hell was just slinging webs on live TV_. Another part was busy being surprised that some theorists had thought to ask that question- it'd taken months of Peter literally being said web-slinger before he wondered about it (not the supercomputer theory obviously, but it was a good guess for an outsider view). The last part of his mind was freaking out because _why was she staring directly at Peter while asking questions about Spider-Man?_

Peter remained quiet as he debated internally, but Miles (who was smiling over the abstract rainbow mess Lizzy was proudly showing the table), offered offhandedly "It's gotta be a mutation thing, right? I think it's connected to the lack of vertigo."

"Oh right!" Karen claps her hands together and her eyes light up as she turned to Miles. "Most people would get nauseous moving around on the walls and ceiling like the spiders do. And the sheer g-forces from those swing arcs too!" Karen's smile was a bit more genuine as she and Miles continued to debate their theories on Spider-Man's powers, and Peter found himself rather amused at how enthusiastically Miles was debating. Peter himself on the other hand was rather distracted by the tray of plates that Rico had just brought out- namely the heap of shredded meat and cheese and onion that was taking up the entirety of two of the plates, with little slices of bread perched on top (presumably a second slice buried underneath, as if that would let it keep the name of 'sandwich’). 

"That's- that's too much." Peter tries to protest as Rico sets those plates down in front of him and Miles (Nancy had gotten a cup of tea with a muffin and Lizzy got a grilled cheese even though they hadn't ordered anything- must be regulars.)

Miles elbows him as Rico grinned and retreated, leaving the food right where it was despite Peter's protests. "Dude, Pete, listen. _Bioelectricity._ "

"It's clearly a damn taser-web, just like Spider-Man's!" Rico calls over his shoulder without turning, and Karen sticks her tongue out at his back.

"It's clearly not!" She called back, crossing her arms and looking back at Miles. "You agree with me right? Spider-Kid uses electricity _way_ more than Spider-Man ever did, and not just with his webs- there's videos of him shocking anyone that tries to even grab him too." 

The taser comment was interesting considering he only figured out taser webs a few months ago, but- "Spider-Kid?"

Karen waves a hand at the TV vaguely, even though it was now showing the weather. "Yeah, you know- the little baby one in the black and red suit." 

Out of the corner of his eye, Peter catches Miles shooting him a pointed look. Something was _definitely_ up, but now wasn't the time to discuss it. 

"Could be either or." He settles on, still having no idea what she was talking about. He put off any more questions by digging into the food mountain in front of him- it would be a waste to leave without eating it (and also, he really was very hungry). That seemed to remind Miles too that there was food in front of him, and the kid dug into his own plate with much more gusto, earning a giggle from Lizzy and a fond pat on the arm from Nancy. Karen simply rolled her eyes and huffed a short laugh before returning to her spot behind the counter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter will still probably come next weekend since there's still some more parts I need to finish over there. As for this chapter, I had 5 (maybe more) different variations on how this went, spanning about 20 notebook pages, all varying from just bullet-listed dialogue markers to fully verbated paragraphs. I'm pretty happy with it, even if I accidentally made a pile of OCs that I'm now oddly attached to and will likely never use again whoops. ((Also there's a not-so-subtle Night Vale reference because originally Rico was going to be called Ricky but I typoed and then I couldn't resist)) 
> 
> The main story will be 5 chapters by the way- the sixth chapter is kinda like an omake/epilogue that came out of nowhere because I'm easily distracted by outside povs (as you've seen in Spider Shorts and Left Behind lol). 
> 
> Now I'm gonna remove myself from this computer and yeet myself to bed before I let loopy brain do anything worse than posting stuff early lol


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Wait- you- you just throw your suit in the laundry?" Miles seems to be having trouble processing that part.
> 
> "I mean- yeah?" the little guy tilts his head. "It'd start smelling funny awfully quick otherwise?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HHHhhhhhhh I went over this chapter like 7 times for grammar slips- since I wrote it really piecemeal it was randomly jumping between past and present tense heck. ANYWAY, barring more surprise ideas stealing all my writing power, next chapter will be up this weekend too.
> 
> Also I feel like this is weirdly short, but maybe it's because I've gone over it so many times idk.

It takes a while, even after the plates were cleared, before they can get away from the well-meaning civilians. As soon as he and Miles were free however, Peter led the way to a nearby alley, where they quickly changed back into their suits and took to the roofs. 

"I thought we were taking the stealthy route back?" Miles asks as they scale the wall. 

"There's something else going on here- I can understand not knowing you got bit by a spider since you weren't exactly using your powers, but there's no way we _both_ missed a third spider-powered person. And even if he doesn’t have the spider-powers, he’s got a suit, he’s got _webshooters_ , and he’s been active long enough for people to recognize him. Things aren’t adding up.” 

He could almost hear the mental gears turning as Miles considered the implications, but neither said anything else as they reached the roof and leapt off- Peter taking the lead as they swung towards the location that had been on the screen. 

The crushed cars and scattered debris have already been cleared away by the time they arrive, both vigilantes perching carefully on a fire escape several stories up and tucked well away into the shadows and out of sight. There was a road-crew setting up cones around the remaining damaged parts of the road and directing traffic around it, and a single patrol car remained from the small fleet that had been shown on the TV. The most curious thing however was the spandex-clad figure sitting on the roof of said patrol-car, legs crossed with a large book laid out across one thigh and a notebook balanced on the opposite knee, a pencil tapping rhythmically against his chin. An officer was leaning against the car watching the traffic, but enhanced hearing was able to pick up the words she directed at the figure.

"Shouldn't you be headed back to school now kiddo?"

The kid (he was too small in stature to be anything else) shakes his head, not turning away from the book. "Even if I swung the whole way, by the time I get back our last class would be over and I'd just have to swing home anyway."

"You could catch your teacher and ask for some clarification on whatever's stumping you there. Don't wanna get grounded again if your grades drop, right?"

The kid huffs at that and throws himself backwards, back arching over the patrol car’s bar of lights as he flung his arms out. 

"It's not even that difficult of a subject!" He whines. "My spidey-sense has been freaking out for the past two hours and it's insanely distracting! I think-" Here he heaves a sigh again, curling back up to a sitting position- "I think another portal opened up." 

Peter stiffens on his perch, and beside him Miles does the same. Down on the ground, the cop twists around to stare at the figure on her roof. 

"You guys can sense that stuff now?"

The kid slams his book shut and shoves it off his lap so he can stretch his legs out. 

"That's just it- I don't know! I'm not sure if it's because this is my home, or because of what happened with Fisk, but recently every time a new portal's opened my senses have been prickling, even if the other spider-person isn't anywhere near me!" 

The cop seems to consider this, returning to her casual slouch against the side of the car as the kid collects his books and shoves them into a backpack that was resting against the windshield. "Think you'll be able to track them before they get into trouble? 'Cause I for one would love to skip the whole 'trying to convince a vigilante we just want to drive him to another vigilante's house for pizza and a nap' thing." 

"Well I'm pretty sure most vigilantes don't give out their home addresses to their local police departments, so there's that." He scoots across the roof until his feet are dangling off the side next to the cop, and he kicks his heels against the window absently as he looks up at the sky. "And anyway, I can't tell _where_ they are but... they're closer than they were earlier. ...a _lot_ closer."

"So he's mobile at least- that's good." The cop sighs in what sounds like relief.

Above them, Peter can feel Miles shift, and he turns to look over his shoulder. Even through the mask the question on his face is clear. Peter chews at the inside of his lip for a few heartbeats, but finally nods and gestures towards the ground. Oddly enough, the cop doesn’t seem at all fazed when they touch down a few yards away- in fact, she’s positively beaming as she focuses in on Miles's suit. 

"Finally! A spider with a sense of aesthetic!"

The kid on the car slips easily to the ground, and once he’s standing upright Peter can finally see the details of his suit. It’s clearly a Spider-Man themed suit, but colored primarily black just like Miles's. Instead of the crisp red and white lines of his successor's suit however, the spider emblem was rounded, styled to look like red paint, complete with run-off dripping down at points. The palms and fingers as well as the bottoms of the feet also remained red- fading in from the black like more paint. 

"What about me?" The kid complains, looking up at the cop and gesturing to the matching color sets (and Karen from the shop was right, he’s _tiny_ , barely reaching the officer's shoulder). 

" _You,_ " she snaps back sarcastically, "ran around in a spray-painted spidey-suit until your dad put his foot down about the fumes you gave off- _you don't count._ "

The kid crosses his arms and aims a kick at her shin, but she dodges and tries to kick him back with the same amount of success. Peter’s familiar enough with his and Miles’s masks to realize that the slight bob of the kid’s head means he’s rolling his eyes.

"... _actually_ I accidentally dropped the suit in the laundry and it ruined a couple of dad's uniforms." He admits, rubbing at the back of his masked head and jumping back slightly so he can stick his feet to the side of the patrol car and crouch a few feet off the ground. "Mom was way mad, she lectured me for like half an hour about better suit maintenance and stuff, so now I've got this one that _won't_ stain every load of laundry it touches." 

"Wait- you- you just throw your suit in the laundry?" Miles seems to be having trouble processing that part.

"I mean- yeah?" the little guy tilts his head. "It'd start smelling funny awfully quick otherwise?"

"I think most of you spiders are a little more secretive with their _secret identities_ kiddo." The officer says with a laugh, gently shoving said kid's knee. Instead of responding to the taunt however, he perks up like a hound and his head twists to stare down the road just as a new patrol car turned the corner and pulled up behind the one they were gathered around. Peter shifts slightly to make sure he was between Miles and the new car- just because the woman-cop seemed perfectly chill with chatting up three suited vigilantes didn't mean the entire force was the same. 

The man that stepped out of the car though…

_Peter heard the whoop of the sirens as he was cocooning the last of the warehouse’s guards, and he leapt off the guardrail to hang upside-down as the patrol car pulled up and a single officer got out. The man simply raised an eyebrow as looked up at Peter’s imitation of a pendulum, and the two thugs that were unconscious and secured to the rails above him._

_“You know we can't have vigilantes trespassing or doing illegal searches.” The man calls up, walking underneath Peter to scan his eyes over the hulking shadow of the warehouse, and the silhouettes of more webbed-up guards._

_“Yeah, I know.” The vigilante sighs, twisting slowly to keep the cop in his sights. Of course- it’s never that easy. The cop looks back up at him and props a hand on his hip, a slow grin forming on his face as he pulls a folded sheaf of papers from his pocket._

_“Which is why I brought a warrant. So what do you say we do some perfectly legal searching?”_

_It’s incredibly tempting to burst out laughing at the man’s theatrics, but Peter reigns it in at the last second. Instead, he drops the web and twists, hitting the ground and walking up to the officer without missing a beat and taking the hand the other man offered him in greeting._

_“I like the sound of that. What's your name?”_

_“Officer Davis. Call me Jeff.” He’s got a good grip, and his grin widens as he nods and drops the handshake. “And you are?”_

_Peter almost answers out of habit, but freezes. “Uhh…”_

_But then Jeff laughs and his grin widens as he reaches out to sock Peter in the arm._

_“I’m just messing with you.”_

_Yup, Peter_ definitely _likes this one._

_\-----_

_“Careful, the bridge is out.” Peter perches on a railing as Jeff steps out to the end of the broken catwalk and eyes the distance with a squint. The man eyeballs it for a few seconds before nodding and backing up._

_“I got this one.”_

_He gets a running start, and Peter’s coiled like a spring, fingers resting on the webshooter’s triggers just in case, but Jeff clears the gap, nearly stumbling as he hits the other side but catching his balance at the last second. Peter can’t help but let out a quick, delighted laugh as he jumps to the railing behind Jeff while the cop comfortably matches his banter with a wry grin._

_\-----_

_Through the old tunnel, into the emptied vault. He’s tearing at the doors, twisting the lock out of shape until it fails, and there’s the demons and Fisk’s cache of weapons, about to get away. His senses hum as Peter coils himself, measuring the force he’ll need to reach the vans in one bound. Nah, better to jump halfway and web them from there._

_“Stay here.” He orders, but Jeff’s solid presence beside him doesn’t move- instead, the cop snorts._

_“Hell no. It’ll take both of us to stop ‘em… and some of these.”_

_The vigilante glances over- there’s a wicked glint in his new friend’s eye (and after this adventure, Jefferson Davis is definitely a friend to Spider-Man) as the cop hefts a couple of grenades in one hand._

_And who’s Peter to argue with that logic?_

_\-----_

_After all the demons have been brought down by webs, bullets, various explosives, and one_ very _reckless use of a police cruiser, Peter helps Jeff to his feet as a curious crowd grows around them. Jeff’s eyes are a little wide and he’s chuckling as he comes down off what must be an insane adrenaline rush, but he leans comfortably on Peter’s support, and the vigilante can’t help but think it’s been a long while since he had that much_ fun. 

_\-----_

_The spidey-sense is_ **screaming** _._

_The pain of it is making his eyes water, he wants to curl up on the ground but no no no there’s threats something’s_ wrong _. Over there- a car, a man, a vest of_ bombs _and the light of the demons, and another , and_ another _. His heart is hammering like a jackhammer, he can’t hear the crowd over the silent screaming of his sixth sense, and his gaze is pulled away, up to where Jeff is on the edge of the podium, and the man behind him is-_

_The first one detonates, and everything descends into screams and smoke and the stench of burnt flesh._

_As he rushes to cover MJ, he sees out of the corner of his eye, up above, Jeff pushing the bomber away, and moving to shield his fellows._

_More explosions rip through the crowd, and everything goes black._

Over the pounding of his heart and the rushing in his ears, Peter barely hears Miles's voice, small and broken and half-choked by a sob beside him. 

"... _Papi?_ " 

And something shifts in the face of the man that looks like Jefferson Davis, his calm smile falls away and he lifts his arms in an open gesture as he steps forward gently, eyes honed in on Miles’s quivering suited figure.

"C'mere son." He says it softly, and that’s all the invitation the kid needs as he lunges forward, sending Jeff stumbling backwards as black-clad arms wrap around his chest. Miles lets out another broken sob as he clings, and Davis shifts his stance so he doesn't fall over before hunkering down around Miles's form, wrapping him in an enveloping hug, and Peter can hear him _"It's okay Mi, just let it out, I'm here son, I've got you"_. 

Peter wants to reach out, to feel for himself that Davis really was there- safe and alive and whole, but he can't bring himself to move, can barely bring himself to breathe as the memories curl sourly in his gut and in his throat. Instead, he wraps his arms around himself, in a halfhearted attempt to ground the rushing inside. Off to his side, he’s faintly aware of the other officer swearing softly, and an electronic chirp as she activates her radio. 

"This is officer Maria Gonzales calling in." She says, keeping her voice above a whisper, but not speaking loudly enough to disturb the pair by the other car. "We've got two stray spiders located and accounted for. One of them is in distress- Davis has him." 

"Understood." The voice on the radio responds. "We'll contact the others and get one your way to help." 

"No need." the kid's voice is thick with something as he presses a hand against his ear, "I'm already on scene." 

"Roger that Spider-Kid- give us a ring if you need us." The radio falls silent, and beside him Peter sees the cop and the kid vigilante share a look before she turns to join the clean-up crew and he moves to stand beside Peter. 

So many questions fill Peter’s head. What's happening, who are you, why is Davis here, how is he _alive_... But he can’t voice any of them, so he remains silent, standing awkwardly beside the kid that stood about as tall as his bicep. Away from them, Miles's breathing is finally smoothing out, though he’s still clinging to his dad. Davis untucks his head from the kid's shoulder and looks up at them with a soft, sad smile. 

"Can you text Rio and let her know we'll have extra guests tonight?" He asks in a low voice, and Peter sees Miles stiffen in the man's arms at his mother’s name. Beside Peter, the kid nods and tosses a web up to one of the nearby roofs with smooth easy movements, vanishing over the edge with a flip. Peter stares after him in confusion, absently noting that the kid's backpack was still sitting on the windshield. 

And then an oddly familiar-but-not face steps out from the alley beside the building and jogs across the road, swiping up the backpack and giving the officer a two-fingered salute and a cheeky grin. Davis huffs out a sigh and Miles pulls away from him to stare in confusion at the kid. 

"Can you at least pretend that your secret identity is a secret?" The officer grumbles, crossing his arms.

"Yeah, because I can totally come up with a logical explanation for why Spider-Man crawled through the window of my science class last week to complain about the grade I got on my last chemistry test and how he didn’t get a degree in biochemical engineering just for his little brother to get a D in chemistry." 

...Peter doesn't remember doing that to anyone ever. 

Davis however, simply rolls his eyes. 

"Just ignore him like I do at work, he’ll wander off eventually." 

"Which would be great if he hadn't _pulled out the modified capture web formula to support his argument._ " The kid shoots back without missing a beat. "The formula which, need I remind you, is half in my handwriting, which my teacher can recognize!"

"And your teacher's response?"

Miles had pulled himself away from Davis now, and was slowly edging back to Peter's side while staring at the kid like he was a particularly bubbly alien-blob as the other crossed his arms and huffed in annoyance. 

"She said experimental web fluid combinations don’t count as extra credit and Mr. Parker please call the office before visiting school grounds in the future." His tone was high and he waggled his head as he spoke as though he were imitating said teacher's voice. "Then she pushed him out the window and threatened everyone with detention if we didn't get back to the lesson." 

The kid must finally notice the way Peter's been staring at him because he turns and tugs at his bag's shoulder straps and grins. "Not you, but my Peter. Except not mine-mine, he's just like the usual Peter but- wait." He shakes his head roughly and then sticks his hand out in greeting. "Sorry, hi. I'm Miles Morales, and I'm the Spider-Kid in this city. You got pulled into a hole in the multiverse- this is a completely different dimension from the one you live in. It happens a lot, don't worry." 

"So this... this is an alternate reality?" Miles asks from beside Peter, peering curiously at his _very short_ not-doppelganger. Short-Miles shrugs. 

"Kinda? There's a lot of things that are different between the dimensions- like, the Peter I was talking about has been Spider-Man for over 20 years- he's from another-another dimension too but he likes to visit ours a lot. Then there's Gwen- she's Spider-Woman in her dimension and she's been at it for like 3 years- I've had my powers for a little over a year now." 

"But you're younger than me." Peter's-Miles protests. Kid-Miles shrugs and sticks his hands in his pockets.

"Just another difference. Anyway, if you guys are staying for dinner- which you totally are by the way, no arguing- then you gotta help me carry the extra groceries home, so c'mon!" And with that he turns on his heel and takes off, calling "See you at home Papi!" over his shoulder, to which Davis just waves and grins. Peter looks between them, still unsure, but he follows the Kid-Miles anyways, and is glad when his Miles sticks close and follows Peter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was having a lot of fun with the memory/flashback snips- I almost completely forgot to put those in lol. Uhhhh, I had to cover my area and one of my coworker's routes today because he was out sick, so I'm like super dead rn lol. I feel like I had more things to say about this chapter but I can't remember them, so uhh.... yeet, I guess _-tosses chapter into the void-_


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter has a minor heart attack when he sees Jameson out on a fire escape waving a rolled up newspaper at them, but as they pass him he yells "Go to bed you punk!" and Little-Miles yells back "After patrol Mr. JJ, I promise!" Which earns him a "You damn kid!" And then JJ goes back inside, and that's that apparently. 
> 
> Alternate realities are _weird_.

"Do people know who I am in your city?" Peter asks as Kid-Miles is debating one package of chicken over another in the grocery store. He asks the question after almost half an hour of watching how people reacted to the two costumed vigilantes following a teenager into a grocery store, but then he remembers the odd behavior of Nancy and Rico and Karen back in the sandwich shop. The kid glances up at Peter and tosses both packages into the cart that Peter's-Miles has, and he grimaces faintly. 

"I'm kinda surprised you didn't overhear someone mention it earlier- it's usually one of the first things we have to explain." He falls silent for a bit as he turns his feet down one aisle, leaving Peter and Peter's-Miles to follow after with the cart. He palms a few bottles of spices, puts a few back, and tosses a few over his shoulder without looking (they all land in the cart). 

"He died last year." He admits softly, without turning to face them. "Fisk- the Kingpin- killed him." 

Peter bites the inside of his lip at the quiet, flat tone and steps forward, resting a hand on the kid's shoulder. Kid-Miles leans into it slightly, but he looks up with a half-hearted smile. 

"Did you know him well?" Peter's-Miles asks (he's gotta figure out a different way of calling them because while it was right, calling the more familiar of the two 'my-Miles' was doing strange things to his heart.) 

The faint smile fell brittle, and the kid gently twisted away from Peter's hand as he shook his head. 

"We met in the tunnels. I'd had my powers for... a bit over a day? He said he was gonna teach me, and then... Then the collider exploded, and he told me to run." He shakes his head sharply again and strides away, grabbing more items off the shelves and tossing them over his shoulder as he goes. Peter's-Miles follows after him, catching the items and dropping them into the cart, and Peter stares after them for a few heartbeats before trailing after. 

They get odd looks from the cashier and people in line too, but still no-one comments on the vigilantes shopping with a kid, and when Peter whispers a question about it to Kid-Miles he just shrugs and says they've already got a reputation. One of the store employees asks if they need help carrying the bags out, and Kid-Miles laughs and waves her off, saying he's used to this, gotta feed the relatives and all (that gets a few understanding laughs from the line oddly enough, and Peter wonders just how much the public knows about Spider-Man.) Meanwhile, Kid-Miles uses an app on his phone to summon a van.

The driver is a little wide-eyed as they're setting the groceries in the back, but luckily he keeps his eyes on the road instead of his passengers as he pulls out into the traffic. He only breaks once, and it's to ask Little-Miles if his dad had actually adopted 'the spiders' (said child had only grinned and said _'legally no, but yesterday he totally threatened to ground someone with his dad-voice, and it wasn't me.'_ )

Then they've arrived and Jefferson and Rio are already outside waiting, and they help the trio carry the bags inside ( _'it's not necessary, we've got it'_ Peter tries to say, and _'nonsense!'_ is Rio's response as she glares when he tries to take a bag from her). 

"Benji and Porker are on the sofa." Jeff says as they go through the front door, and Little-Miles nods and drops his bags on the floor to duck into the living room, while Peter follows him curiously. 

There's a black-haired teenager on the sofa, face oddly grey though he doesn't look sick. What he does look however, is completely beat to hell and back- he smiles at the kid as he lowers the bag of peas to reveal a split lip and an impressive shiner, and the mottling of what might be a cracked cheekbone- though the colors of the bruise are also off. 

"Heya’ Miles." He greets, moving to put the bag down on the sofa. 

"Nah-ah-ah!" Says the- the- the other one on the sofa grabbing the teen's wrist and pressing the bag of frozen veggies back against his face. (Peter’s seen a lot of strange things in his years as Spider-Man but this guy is possibly in the top ten).

"Hey Benji, hey Ham." Little-Miles greets, as if there's nothing at all strange about the pair on the sofa, perching himself on the arm of the sofa. "Rough patrol?" 

The teen opens his mouth but the- Little-Miles called him _Ham?_ \- holds up a hand to interrupt. 

" _Someone_ decided he didn't need to ask for some back-up busting a drug-runners op even though his ribs were still cracked from what happened yesterday, and didn't call until _after_ his face got pounded in." 

"I had it completely under control." The teen grouses, sinking down lower into the sofa. 

"Oh absolutely, right until the seventh tire iron." Ham nodded, crossing his arms. 

"Right until the seventh tire iron." Benji agrees, completely seriously. 

"You guys staying for dinner?" the kid interrupts, a soft grin spreading across his lips at the pair's interaction. 

"Just waiting until Peni's out of school-" Ham replies, letting Benji's arm go to turn and pat Little-Miles on the knee, "she'll be coming by and then we're crashing at her place- her uncle wasn't best pleased to overhear _that_ phone call. Something about quadruple-checking that we're not being bad influences or something. Which, really sir?" 

"Cool- say hi for me." Benji nods in acknowledgement and Ham waves lazily, sitting down on the cushions next to the teenager once more and pulling the remote from between the cushions and station-flipping so quickly not even Peter could register what what being shown. Little-Miles grins and passes Peter, leading him and his-Miles back to the kitchen where Jefferson and Rio have started pulling groceries from the bags. 

The atmosphere of the room is kept light as Jeff and Rio and Little-Miles chat about their days, and Peter's-Miles relaxes slowly as he settles into the familiar environment, which in turn helps Peter to relax as well. Both of the Mileses are given knives and are unleashed upon the veggies and meats, and Rio heads into the living room to check on their other guests while Jeff starts tossing things together in four different pots on the stove and one pan on the table that's destined for the oven. Their work is interrupted briefly as a pre-teen black-haired girl comes in through the front door, hugs Jeff and Kid-Miles (she only pauses for a second before quickly hugging Peter's-Miles and Peter himself), and then she disappears into the living room to rant in a tangle of English and Japanese that ends with a hiccup from her and a quiet apology from the beat-up teenager. 

The trio enters the kitchen to say bye to Jeff and Little-Miles, and they go around with more hugs before they return to the living room. There's a strange, vaguely familiar noise and a nervous prickling of Peter's spidey-sense that passes as quickly as it came, and they're gone. 

"They all went to Peni's dimension." Little-Miles says with a shrug when Peter asks him what just happened. Peter wants to ask more questions, but his-Miles is asking about the girl's version of New York, which is apparently far into the future? And then Little-Miles is off, sharing stories of all the different New Yorks he's seen in his travels, and all the different spider-people he's crossed paths with (and the occasional times he's run into other heroes or vigilantes before he could find the local spider.)

The food finishes cooking and the five of them gather around the table. Peter's-Miles starts asking Jefferson what it's like working with vigilantes, and Peter is briefly threatened with a wooden spoon when he tries to politely decline the third helping that Rio heaps on his plate. 

"I won't put up with my boy making himself go hungry, I certainly will not put up with it from _you_ Mr. Parker." He's not sure where the logic in that is, but he knows better than to argue with that look.

After dinner Peter insists on washing the dishes at least, and then Little-Miles is inviting them both to join him on his evening patrol. No-one in the city seems surprised to see three masked web-slingers- they seem quite happy about it, in fact. Peter has a minor heart attack when he sees Jameson out on a fire escape waving a rolled up newspaper at them, but as they pass him he yells "Go to bed you punk!" and Little-Miles yells back "After patrol Mr. JJ, I promise!" Which earns him a "You damn kid!" And then JJ goes back inside, and that's that apparently. Alternate realities are _weird_. 

There's also an incident when they're stopping a pair of muggers when one of them grabs for the littlest vigilante, who proceeds to light up like a bug zapper and the would-be grabber collapses on the ground spasming. His partner takes one look at his buddy and throws his hands up- perfectly happy to be webbed to the wall if it means not getting tasered. 

Peter's-Miles asks if that was the bioelectricity he'd heard about and Little-Miles shrugs and nods. Apparently he's only met a few other Mileses in the multiverse so far, but they've all shared the electricity and the invisibility thing. He offers to help Peter's-Miles get a start on controlling it, and the kid's so excited Peter doesn't realize the other part of that exchange until they're several blocks away and five stories up, and he nearly eats pavement when he freezes in midair, finally processing the second part of that. 

"You can turn _invisible?!_ "

Then they're back at the Davis-Morales household, and Kid-Miles and Peter’s-Miles are going through a collection of DVDs until they find one that they both agree on (in some ways they're clearly different people, but in others it's just as clear they are both Miles Morales through and through). Rio kisses everyone's foreheads and cheeks and goes upstairs to sleep since she's got an early shift in the morning while Jefferson settles onto one side of the sofa and Peter takes the other side. Kid-Miles sits on the floor leaning back against his dad's shins as he digs out the homework he hadn't finished earlier, and Peter’s-Miles sits in the middle of the sofa with his elbow pressing into Peter's hip and his curled feet pressing against Jefferson's thigh. 

He slowly uncurls as the movie goes on however, until they're halfway through the picture and he's fully draped across Peter's side with a small line of drool making its escape down his chin, and his legs are fully across Jefferson's lap- one foot kicked up on the sofa arm and the other dangling on Kid-Miles's shoulder. 

Peter doesn't even notice when he himself falls asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One more chapter after this- I might try getting it up in the middle of the week, but we'll see how that goes. Then an epilogue / omake and this one will be done!


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Rest good?" Jeff asks softly, so as not to wake the kids. 
> 
> "You're pretty chill with… all this." Peter says, waving a hand at himself and the other two superhuman members of the couch-pile to cover his lack of ability to define 'all this'.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Have some shameless fluff and cuddle-piles~
> 
> This is more of an epilogue than a final chapter, and the one after this is more of a bonus / omake bit. Meant to have this one up yesterday but I somehow forgot attending a party in the backwoods of Maine 2 hours from civilization meant being 2 hours from internet _so_ I'll be posting 'Chapter 6' in just a little while :)

Waking up is a bit strange, because the first thing Peter notices is that he feels well and rested, and also he's quite warm because of the human body blanketed across him. Cracking his eyes open, Peter finds Miles all but laying on top of him, arms draped loosely around his human pillow as he continues to sleep. Further down the sofa he sees Little-Miles also asleep. It looks like he'd wriggled up and under Big-Miles's legs at some point, and was curled in the arch of the older teen's knees as he burrowed under Jefferson's arm. 

Peter's fellow adult was already awake- a faintly glowing e-reader in one hand while the other absently scratched at his son's scalp. He glances up as Peter shifts however- setting the device down on the small table next to the sofa and resting his arm across Big-Miles's shins. 

"Rest good?" He asks softly, so as not to wake the kids. His voice was so soft in fact that Peter wouldn't have heard him if he hadn't had enhanced hearing, even though it was clearly a directed question. 

"You're pretty chill with… all this." Peter says, waving a hand at himself and the other two superhuman members of the couch-pile to cover his lack of ability to define 'all this'. 

Jefferson huffs softly, a faint grimace crossing his features before it smooths out once more. 

"I'd be the first to admit I wasn't Spider-Man's biggest fan originally." The admission is a soft exhale. "Then he was killed, our city almost got sucked into a black hole, and this new kid in the spider-suit almost got himself killed too before he takes down Wilson Fisk for us. And he's tiny and energetic and no-one can look at him without remembering what happened to Parker. So when Peter- the older one from the other dimension- when he let slip some things, I guess I just wasn't that surprised. Well, I was-" He huffs out a faint laugh again- "But, I know Miles, and I knew he'd been trying to figure out how to tell me himself anyway, so I had time to figure it out. I wondered if I could make him stop, for a while, but... now, even if I was given that chance, I wouldn't be able to take it. Miles is Spider-Kid, and Spider-Kid is Miles, and trying to take that from him- even to keep him safe- would hurt him far worse in the end, I think." 

He falls silent, and Peter can't keep from looking down at the teen laying across him as his mind spun. His-Miles had already been through so much- too much for a teenager, for anyone really in Peter's opinion. But, if he got that chance- to turn Miles away from the path of the vigilante, to force the kid to stop... could he? He was always terrified of the kid getting hurt but... could he really take it away, when he knows how it feels?

"Knowing he has backup helps." Jefferson offers up after letting Peter swirl around in his own head for a while. "He patrols on his own normally, but he's got coms that link him directly to our precinct- and if it's something we can't help with, he can reach out to the other spiders even if they're back in their own cities. And they can reach out to us if they ever need help too." 

"That's- that's good. It's good that he's not- not alone." 

Jefferson squints at him, hand finally pausing in the scritches and earning a grumpy chirrup and headbutt from the kid which Jeff temporarily ignored. 

"You're not alone anymore either Peter." 

What?

"You've only been here a day, but you'll figure out pretty quick that these kids don't let go easily. If you think my boy's letting you out of our city without a way to come back to visit or a way to call for help if you ever need it, then you're extra-crazy." His mouth quirked up in a smile- probably at the fact that Peter could feel his mouth slowly falling open- and returned to petting Little-Miles's head. 

"Welcome to the inter-dimensional spider-family." 

It was shortly after that that the kids began waking up, and Little-Miles got to showing Big-Miles how to make The Best French Toasttm (a recipe which tasted achingly familiar to Peter- and while His-Miles panicked slightly when the silent tears fell, Little-Miles just smiled sadly and gave him a super-strength hug that was... actually very soothing, for all that it was difficult to breathe through. He was incredibly glad the kid left it at that. He wasn’t brave enough to ask how he’d gotten May’s old recipe.)

French toast was eaten, several slices were sent out the door with Rio as she rushed through the kitchen off to work (with another round of forehead kisses and hugs as she went), and then Little-Miles was showing the two guests how to work their new inter-dimensional-watch-gizmos, which he'd just pulled out of a drawer in the kitchen. 

"The portals get kinda erratic sometimes, like we'd have a month with none, and then in one week we'd have three spiders falling in front of traffic and swinging around in a panic." A shrug. "So, now we just keep a bunch in the kitchen, just in case. I've got a few hidden in my dorm, and dad's got more in his desk at work." 

He showed them how to generate a portal back home, and then how to create a portal back _here_ , and then a short explanation on how to contact other dimensions ("Your spidey-sense is gonna be really twitchy in any other dimension though, warning you now. Your dimension's your home, and mine's weird 'cause Fisk and the doc tried to break it but other dimensions are just gonna be really itchy.") 

Then it was again with the hugs- this time he hugged Peter's-Miles too, which seemed to throw the older teen off (didn't stop him from hugging back though- kid needed more hugs in the future Peter decided). Then Jefferson was pulling all three of them into a massive hug and he didn't have super-strength but he was apparently a master hugger and they stood in a ball of arms in the middle of the kitchen for a few minutes before it was finally time to go back to their own city. 

Peter's expecting another dizzying fall through the rainbow kaleidoscope space, but when he follows Little-Miles's instructions on activating the gizmo, the portal that opens up swirls calmly- a thick ring of color around a doorway-sized hole in reality, through which he could see a familiar skyline. His own world seems paler, and he remembers briefly how oddly _bright_ the world had seemed after the portal. An effect of being in another dimension, he figures now. His-Miles steps through, glancing around the rooftop on the other side curiously, and after one final wave and pleasant nod from Little-Miles and Jefferson, Peter steps after and lets the portal fall closed, and they're home once more.


	6. Omake

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mary Jane is not freaking out, not at all. It's probably some Spider-Man thing that's distracted the boys, nevermind that they left FEAST ages ago, and were supposed to have arrived for dinner over an hour ago.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> MJ's always coming after me out of the blue with these pieces. She's determined to make her views known, no matter which dimension she's from apparently.

Mary Jane is not freaking out, not at all. It's probably some Spider-Man thing that's distracted the boys, nevermind that they left FEAST ages ago, and were supposed to have arrived for dinner over an hour ago. Peter was like a hunting dog when he heard sirens or screams- off like a rocket with barely a thought, and Miles was always a few steps, half a swing behind him and ready to watch and learn and help. 

They're two hours late, and Mary Jane is _not_ freaking out. Dinner's cold, but still edible, and she's scrolling through her phone as she waits. No crazy villain rampaging on the news, no 'breaking coverage' on the tv stations that would have attracted the boys. It's fine though. 

Three hours late, and she's packing dinner into the fridge with her cellphone pressed into her shoulder. None of her fellows at the Bugle have anything for her, no insider scoops or anonymous tips, no nothing. Robbie ends per prodding with a growl that they better not have another lawsuit in the near future. It's fine. 

Four hours, and she's answering her phone and biting her lip as she tells Rio that Miles was already asleep on her sofa, he and Peter were so tuckered out from all the heavy lifting at FEAST, probably best to just let them sleep here for tonight. 

Five hours, and she's lost count of the number of texts and calls she's thrown Peter's way. His phone isn't receiving any of them- it probably ran out of battery again ~~_(or it's shattered on pavement, underneath rubble, soaked in red-)_~~

Six hours. The city's as quiet as it can be. Captain Watanabe is not amused at being woken up by an unknown reporter from a newspaper at this hour (Mary Jane apologizes- she doesn't ask what hour it is because it's not that late yet it really can't be because her boys haven’t come home yet after all). The captain growls that she doesn't track Spider-Man's activity, she's not his handler, and then she hangs up. 

Seven hours and the captain calls back sounding more awake- none of her officers have seen the web-slinger tonight- no traces of webbing in the air, no criminals gift-wrapped on the steps. She asks if there's something going on the police should know about, and Mary Jane apologizes again and hangs up without giving her an answer. 

Peter and Miles are eight hours late for dinner and Mary Jane's nails are chewed to the quick. She finally passes out with her laptop on her knees and the news murmuring calmly in the background. She does not rest easily. 

Mary Jane wakes at the sound of Peter's voice and the weight of his hand on her shoulder, and she opens her eyes just long enough to make sure he's not currently bleeding out before she slugs him in the shoulder as hard as she can. 

He has the decency to duck his head and look apologetic at least, so she refrains from hitting him again as she struggles to sit up and shake off the sleep. The living room is lit by sunlight filtering through the window, and Mary Jane can hear Miles somewhere in the kitchen. 

"Where the hell have you two been?!" She yells- now that they're here, they're home and they're safe, _now_ she can freak out. Her voice is loud enough to startle Miles, from the faint yelp and clatter she hears from his direction, but that's not her main concern right now. "You could have at least texted that you- all night I've been trying to- I had to tell Rio that Miles was sleeping on the sofa but I didn't know _where you two were-_ " 

She cuts herself off when Peter sinks onto the sofa beside her and reaches out his arms in a silent shy request, his head ducked apologetically but his eyes peeking out from behind his fringe hopefully. MJ holds her glare for a few more seconds before she lets some of her frustration and upset out with a heavy sigh, squeezing her eyes shut and reaching out and pulling her idiot into a hug.

"In Peter's defense-" Miles offers from the entrance to the kitchen- "we weren't exactly planning on getting kidnapped by a rainbow portal into an alternate reality." 

...

They what?

Mary Jane pushed Peter gently out of the hug so she could twist and stare at Miles, who stared back unrepentant. Finding no traction there, she turned to stare at Peter, who ducked his head again after a few seconds of eye contact. 

"We kinda got sucked into an alternate reality." He agreed timidly. "It was very colorful- there was a tiny Miles, he was such a hyper little beanpole."

"Also I learned how to electrocute people with my spidey-powers." Mary Jane didn't need to turn around again to see it- she could hear the smirk in Miles's tone. But Peter's head was bobbing in agreement. 

She stared at the top of his head for a few more seconds, but neither of her boys cracked, so Mary Jane was forced to acknowledge that yes, there was a good possibility that they really _had_ gone... somewhere. 

"You're going to make an apology breakfast for making me worry all night, then Miles is going to call his mum, and then you're both going to tell me _everything._ "

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for sticking with this and my sometimes-weird posting times lol. I'll probably do a sequel for this story later on, but it's on the back-burner for now. 
> 
> Lemme know what y'all thought! As always, love hearing from you guys <3

**Author's Note:**

> Poor Peter- he's 1000% still blaming himself for not being able to save Officer Davis, which is making him extra protective of Miles. Please give this man a break (I say, as I continue to write this and stress him out further). More stuff will be happening next chapter- like I said, chapter 1 was just go get them here.


End file.
